yes she's coming in now as a panelist okay just so we're clear she will only show the slides and
you would do the presentation thank you sounds great thank you tanya could i proceed yes you
okay so good morning chair members and members of the board um my name is verna souza and sitting
beside me during this meeting is my mother delma souza um we are both listed as owners of the 1383
east sanger street property if you could okay so but he's sharing the package and a few so i'll
just proceed um so the package being shared just consists of everything that's requested
are you able to see the package no we can't see anything hold on let me do we do know it's an
application for a permit for two for a two-family dwelling in an existing structure yes we still
cannot see okay i'm going i'm sharing now okay now it's coming through i'm ready okay now you
just have to put it up as you can see the application the refuel yes can you make it
can you make it a little larger oh sure sure thank you so badita as mentioned earlier you're um the
owner of the property can speak you can just move forward like vanna white with the slides
okay thank you speaking she's just sharing okay so to begin the property was purchased during
June of 2013 for me and my two children to reside. Unfortunately on August 18, 2018 our house caught
on fire due to an electrical outage issue. Since then the property has been vacant due to not
having insurance on the property at that time to assist with repairs. Gratefully my mother two years
after, which is why she's the second owner now, she started to help us with fixing my home and
transforming it to having the first floor into a bi-level with the basement as depicted on the
plans that are shown in the package. And then the second floor would be a separate apartment.
At the beginning of this process, we were not aware that to rent the second floor,
I needed to complete a zoning because I had thought, you know, I'm living in the first unit
until I was informed by license and inspection. After being informed, we immediately paused
construction and began the process to make my home a legal duplex. There are many duplexes
in the area. For instance, 1364 Sanger and 1392 Sanger C are just two of the many examples of my
knowledge. I even have photos of it. You can see that they have two doors at the front entrance,
just like how our property will have if passed to have become a duplex. So on October 7th to 2020,
we met with the RCO after waiting several extra months due to the unexpected cancellations that
the COVID pandemic has brought upon all of us. During that meeting with the RCO, we did receive
a letter of support. Also, some details I forgot to mention is that we will make sure to have
trash stored in container in front of the porch area. As soon as we get to the next steps of this
process, I will also make sure I acquire all permits for building, electrical, and plumbing.
Lastly, there will be exits located at basement rear, and there are windows on that level as well.
You have no living in the basement, correct?
So basically the plan is that me and my two children will be living on the first floor, and the basement is also part of our unit.
And then the part that's run it to another person is going to be the second floor.
Okay, Tom, do you need to see that plan?
Do we have a picture? Oh, okay.
Oh, yes, right here. Sorry.
There it is, right there.
And we had initially thought, since I was living in the first unit, that we didn't need, like, any permits.
And we found out and we made sure to stop and make sure we begun the process as soon as possible.
The bedroom that's in the basement, can you go back to this basement?
Mm-hmm.
Where is the exit?
so it'll be at the rear of the basement um so currently we are like well not currently
like well not currently because we have to pause it but we were doing we were working on that and
because we have to pause it but we were doing we're working on that and making sure that
making sure that that's safe and we have an exit there there are also windows located in the
basement as well and then you go to the basement on the screen um you're present okay there you are
um does that look yes okay to you yes good okay great um so yeah that's um everything i needed to
clarify i just want to use this as a way to recover from the financial hardships that have
been piling up ever since the incident in 2018 um i have a 10 year old and a daughter in college at
moment so this will be a huge um help and i would greatly appreciate if the chair members
and the members of the board could support thank you understood are there any witnesses
does the board have any questions no
i have a sloan folks
sorry could you could you repeat that
good morning good morning she's just saying we have some another person to speak to this
okay okay hold on one second good morning and you can take your one second you can take your
packet down.
Thanks.
Hi, Mr. Folks.
Good morning, Madam Vice Chair
and members of the ZBA. My name is Sloan Folks,
S-L-O-A-N-E, F is in the fire,
O-L-K-S, room 508
City Hall, Office of Councilman
Maria Quinonez Sanchez.
The Councilwoman would like to have on the record
that the applicant has met with
the convening coordinating RCO,
has received a letter of support
and the Councilwoman
has no opposition to this variance request.
Thank you very much.
Okay, and you were sworn in earlier, correct?
No, ma'am, I was not.
I apologize.
I'm so used to hearing your name.
Do you swear for him to tell the whole truth
and nothing but the truth?
Yes, ma'am.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Does the board have any questions?
I have one more hand, Mr. Allen.
Mr. Allen, you can unmute yourself and wait to be sworn in.
He's ready, Vice Chair.
Okay, sir, can you put your name and address on the record and spell your last name?
Hi, I'm not sure if I'm supposed to be on this Zoom. I'm supposed to be on the Zoom
for 442 West Queen Lane.
No, that's the wrong case.
Right.
You can continue.
Is Mr. Al on this?
No, he said he's not on the right Zoom. He don't think for this case.
so okay so the board has no the board has no questions no thank you i'll count calendar number
zero two six three i'm sorry chair i apologize for the interruption can we try to get planning
commission on this we sure can as soon as i heard your voice i know back to my old thing
planning commission please hi this is greg walden planning commission staff
um this property is indicated for single family residential use in the comprehensive plan we do
not believe that an additional unit at this location would create an adverse impact to the
surrounding block accordingly we have no objection to the granting of the requested variance thank you
calendar number 0263 1383 sangra street my vote is yes my vote is yes my vote is yes my vote is yes
Okay, Ms. Sosa, your information will be emailed to you.
Thank you so much, Guy.
Happy holidays.
Thanks, Petita.
Calendar number 1299, 2511 East Firth Street.
Leo has been promoted. He's coming in as a panelist.
All right. Good morning, everyone. Sorry, it took me a second to get in.
all right good morning everyone sorry took me a second to get in that's okay can you put your
That's okay.
name and address on the record please inspire your last name yes absolutely leo mulvihill
that's m-u-l-v as in victor i-h-i-l-l address is 2424 east new york street suite 111 philadelphia
19125 do you swear or affirm to tell the whole truth and nothing about the truth i do have you
You also emailed your exhibit packet with proof of ownership, tax compliance, refusal, referral, photos, and plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing, and have you met with the RCO, and do you have a letter?
Yes to all of those.
Okay, you may proceed.
All right, members of the board, good morning.
Leo Mulvihill today on behalf of the applicant, 2511 East Firth, F-I-R-T-H Street Incorporated.
We are here today because my client wishes to build three new single-family homes.
The issue here is simple.
We're in an industrial zone, and I'll show that in the zoning maps in a moment.
For purposes of today's hearing, I'm showing now my exhibit table of contents.
We have the refusal, appeal, and project information form at page one.
Zoning maps at seven.
Deed at eight.
Commercial activity license at 17.
Tax clearance at 18.
My zoning letter is at 20.
We have the letter of support from Old Richmond Civic Association at page 23.
I have photos of the property at 24, plans at 36.
So members of the board, I'm showing now a copy of the refusal.
So the relocation of lot lines to take one lot divided into three, which are similar in width to existing homes on a residential block on Firth Street, which is located one block north of Greensgrove Farm in the Old Richmond Civic catchment right by Fishtown.
The issue that we have here is that this lot is owned industrial commercial mixed use, meaning we can't build a house there if we wanted to.
We tried to otherwise comply with all the RSA 5 guidelines.
The lots are a little smaller because of how we had to do the subdivision, but they're similar, like I said, in width and depth to the existing homes that are adjacent.
I'll move now to page seven of my packet, which I'm showing on the screen.
you'll see indicated here on the top is the subject lot in dark purple that I've circled.
Below, the second image is an overhead shot. This is right in between Allen and Gall Streets
on Firth Street. This large purple parcel that I'm circling with my mouse, this is Greenscrow
Farm. Directly next to us is a Greenscrow Farm storage area, which contains their apiary for
you know, keeping bees, a number of other things. There's also a large metal structure that runs
in the rear of the property. It may have used to house an industrial crane. We're not entirely sure.
All right, yeah. Just perusing through my packet to get to the important stuff.
Here's my notice letter, which went out on September 9. We had a community meeting
on September 22nd. This is the reverse. It was a Zoom meeting. At page 22, I'm showing you my
proof of mailing showing that 69 pieces of mail went out on September 11th. At page 23, which is
on my screen, a letter dated October 9, from Rosemary Thomas, president of Old Richmond Civic,
showing that 13 residents were present, 12 were in favor, one was opposed. So overall, this was
approved by the RCL. Page 24, the site photos that I took, I apologize for my shadow, it was a little
late in the day. This is looking westbound on Firth Street. You can see to the left the existing
single-family homes are about 12, 13 feet wide. To the left you see Greensgrove's vehicles and the
large open lot where the farm is located. The parcel that you see marked with an X in the street
is where we're looking to build. I'm just going to do a 360 real quick for the photographs,
paging through. Paging now for purpose of the record, 27. We see an open lot and then these
plastic garage doors that have a no towing sign in front or no parking sign in front of them.
This is the area in which we intend to build those three homes.
And then you'll see in this photo, which is page 29 for the record, you can see that large
crane structure in the rear. We're not touching that, that's staying. At this metal pole that
indicating about one-third of the way down the picture. This is where the lot ends and we are
not touching the rest of Greensgrove's lot which is off to the right of this photograph.
This is looking now eastbound on Firth Street right towards Aramingo Avenue. You can see the
rear of some of the industrial and commercial buildings are along Aramingo Avenue there.
Southbound is the Sunsets. This is Greensgrove.
all right those were the photographs now for purposes of the record referring to page 36
in my packet these are the three homes that we intend to build brick front single family
These are the three homes that we intend to build. Brick front, single family, three-story, nothing too crazy.
three-story nothing
Page 37, you can see how these three homes are going to fit into the existing site.
This is the proposed lot consolidation. We're doing something a little weird with this, only because of the existing crane that I showed previously.
um so 2509 East Firth which is the existing home directly to the west of where we're proposing to
build they are keeping this part of this lot it looks kind of like a large L I'm indicating with
my cursor right now or like an upside down L I guess I should say and then we are subdividing the
lot so we don't touch any of that crane structure and we've been granted easements for each of these
parcels to access a common fire alley. And the reason is the removal of this structure would be
incredibly expensive and dangerous. Also, it continues through onto the adjacent parcel at
Greensboro. So there's no way we could really do it or coordinate a way to get that out of there.
So the existing owner of 2509 is happy to continue to maintain that and grant these easements to
lots 1, 2, and 3 that we're proposing. These are the interior floor plans, nothing too crazy.
Basement, we have a potential pet shower even, which is pretty cool, frankly. Bath, living area.
I wish I had one. Ground floor, we have living, dining, stairs, and kitchen. The stairs are
essentially switchback stairs in the middle of the house due to the lot width. We really can't
do much else with it. Second floor, two bedrooms and a bath. Third floor, we have the owner's
suite, so we have a large bath to the rear, large bedroom to the front with a nice-sized
walk-in closet. Each of the homes also comes with a roof deck. The pilot houses are set
back about halfway, so nobody's going to be hanging out in the street. This is the proposed
building section. We're not going any taller than 38. This is our proposed subdivision plan,
which has already been stamped by the city. Again, I'll zoom in on this for the board.
These are our three lots. They end up about 571 square feet. If we had gone all the way back,
which we initially tried to do when we were trying to figure out what to do with this giant
steel crane frame, we would have been the same size as the adjacent lot of 2509, which is around
1600 square feet. So technically we would have received the refusal of a lot size, but ultimately
they're going to have use of space behind the homes here. And we do have the emergency access